#housel

"Wouldst Thou Like To Live Deliciously?"

Portland, OR

I gave Housel to the Horned God of my tradition recently, and afterward, I discovered a pair of enormous Elk tracks nearby that weren't there when I first arrived. Being unknowingly overseen by this particular denizen of the Wild, during this particular rite, felt auspicious enough to me that I retrieved my phone so I could go back and take a photo of the tracks. The fact that there were only two hoofprints that I was able to see anywhere in that area was especially interesting, as the ground was muddy enough to capture all but the softest of treads. It gave the prints a very satyric feel.

A little picture of me getting together Dark Moon offerings for the Witching Mother of my tradition, including Grave Water, Black Garlic, Belladonna Berries, Storax Resin, and an Egg from one of our hens.

During my most recent Dark Moon Dapis—in which I give Housel to my Witch-Mother—I wanted to give an extra offering, in a bid for heightened protection while I take on a particularly challenging magical endeavor. In the end, I allowed intuition and omen to guide me in arranging a bouquet of Chive Flowers and Valerian Blossoms, bound together with cordage made from Cala Lily.

Some pictures of the setup from my last Dapis (oath-based Housels carried out during the Dark and Full of the Moon).

During the Full of the Moon and the Dark of the Moon, specialized Housels are also undertaken, which serve as ritual renewal of Oathbound compacts between the seeker and their Initiators. In particular, the Witch-Father is propitiated during the Full Moon, and the Witch-Mother is propitiated during the Dark Moon. During Lunar Eclipses, a third Deity who makes up a Trinity with these two is wroshipped—sometimes called the Angel, the Dragon, or the Androgyne. These specialized forms of Lunar Housel are called Dapum (Dapis singular), and they have the most in common with the Deipnon you reference. In fact, they share etymological roots, and the Dark Moon Dapis I observe shares a lot of things with the Deipnon.

As we always do on the eve of a Hood-Feast, we laid out offerings for the Beloved Dead—eating, drinking, and smoking as we saw fit, in order to honor the things they loved in life, and to allow them another chance at enjoying those sensual pleasures through us—before we fed them to the Votive Urn for use in our Amplemas Housel today.